Case Western University's Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, Kent State University's Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence, and the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland will collaborate to address youth violence prevention information dissemination and research through a joint effort of existing academic centers and community agencies in the Cleveland, Ohio area. More specifically, over a three year period, an academic-community partnership will be created in the form of a consortium for the purpose of information sharing and research collaborations in the area of youth violence prevention, The Greater Cleveland Consortium for Youth Violence Prevention. The proposed collaboration has three aims: 1) to identify/assess the community's interests in addressing youth violence prevention; 2) to provide health education to the community in the area of youth violence prevention; and 3) to develop and establish Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with community organizations that will support the conduct of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and establish The Greater Cleveland Consortium for Youth Violence Prevention. The means for achieving these aims will be provided by:1) conducting community forums on youth violence to solicit the community's understanding of the problem; 2) identifying organizations interested in CBPR participation/board membership; 3) disseminating information on youth violence, violence prevention, and the related health disparities for Cleveland's youths; 4) sponsoring workshops and symposia on youth violence, violence prevention and related health disparities; 5) developing a research agenda addressing the unique needs of Cleveland's youths for violence prevention; 6) developing formal partnerships with community representatives to conduct community-based research. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Case Western University, Kent State University and the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland will collaborate to address youth violence prevention information dissemination and research through the creation of a consortium composed of academic centers and community agencies in the Cleveland, Ohio area.